Rural Women Arrested While Waiting for Walden

to Commit to End Iraq War Funding

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

On Tuesday, March 20^th, 2007, 6 rural women, mothers and grandmothers from Central Oregon, refused to leave the offices of Oregon Congressional Representative Greg Walden until their Representative spoke with them and agreed to vote against any further funding for the Iraq war. The women had a scheduled meeting with an Aide at Walden's office to deliver to petitions, testimonials and other stories from the huge, locally organized 2^nd District Town Hall on the Cost of War. Neither Walden nor his staff attended the Town Hall despite having received scheduling requests and notice of the meeting for several months. These town halls were put on in four of Oregon's five Congressional districts and were attended by more than 700 rural Oregonians. They were coordinated by the statewide Rural Organizing Project in Oregon, but were put on and run by local groups dedicated to human dignity, peace, and justice.

After Walden refused to talk with these brave women on the phone, they refused to leave the office. One of these women has a grandchild on his third tour in Iraq. One would think she deserved the courtesy of a phone call.

The courageous women were arrested around 10 pm Tuesday after sitting in at Rep. Greg Walden's Bend office for 12 hours waiting to speak with Walden and to receive a commitment from him to vote against funding for the Iraq war. With the vote in the House expected as early as today or Thursday and no indication that the concerns of the 2nd District have been heard by Congressman Walden, the women decided to do what they can to make sure that Walden knows his district is calling on him to vote no on more money for the war. But Walden could not find the time to talk with these constituents during the 12 hours they were available at his Bend office.

The 6 women, Kathy Paterno from Powell Butte, Fran Davis from Jefferson County, Betsy Lamb and Ann Havill from Redmond, Meg Brookover and Maggie Miller from Bend, met with the Walden's Ben Legislative Aid at 10am Tuesday morning to deliver testimony and the People's Resolution from the 2nd District Town Hall on the Cost of War. The decision to refuse to leave the office was made after months of frustrating communications with Walden's office, beginning with Walden not attending or sending an aide to the Town Hall and culminating with Walden's unwillingness to schedule a phone conference with the women after three weeks of attempting to follow the channels established by the office.

At about 7:30 last night the women were offered a fifteen minute conference call with Walden if they left and returned the following morning. The women declined and stuck to their original demand that Walden commit to voting against further war funding.

The women did an amazing job of mobilizing media attention, including a reporter from KLCC and a local TV reporter from the NBC affiliate in Bend who they called and stayed with them most of the day and were there to film and record that actual arrest (http://www.ktvz.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=18883).

In addition, the human dignity community mobilized to support this courageous action. From Stand for Peace in Cottage Grove who recorded an interview with Kathy Paterno (http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=22318) to Central Oregon Jobs with Justice who responded to the call for support and gathered about a dozen people outside their building.

These women are heroes among us and they are part of our movement for human dignity in rural Oregon. They are unlikely people and live in seemingly unlikely places, like Powell Butte and Crooked River Ranch, but that has not stopped them from leading the call for peace. Nor will we be stopped from continuing our work to stop the war from every corner of Oregon.

Walden and the other members of our Congressional Delegation need to hear from us today as the vote for war funding is imminent. Please call Greg Walden's office in Washington, DC at 202-225-6730 to protest Walden's refusal to even talk with these constituents during the 12 hours that they were available at his office yesterday and to protest Walden's shameful support of this war.

Call your Congressperson and Senators Wyden and Smith today and tell them to vote "NO" on any further funding for the Iraq occupation. Call the DC Congressional Switchboard at 1-800-828-0498. The vote is expected as early as today.

We can all be proud that Walden has heard (and will continue to hear) from his District. Now we have to see if he will listen.

Onward for Peace and Justice!

To read the press releases and additional media about the Walden sit-in and subsequent arrest, follow links from the left column on this page.